Pendent sprinkler head



Jan. 24, 1956 L. A. GRIMES PENDENT SPRINKLER HEAD Filed Nov. 15, 1954 INVENTOR A55" r5? A. G'P/MEJ [44.01444 I. Glam-ow;

ATTORNEY United States Patent PENDENT SPRINKLER HEAD Lester A. Grimes, New Rochelle, N. Y., assignor to The Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Co. Inc, a corporation of New York Application November 15, 1954, Serial No. 468,889

9 Claims. (Cl. 169-39) The present invention relates to automatic sprinkler systems and comprises an improved pendent sprinkler or discharge head for such systems, whether of the wet pipe or dry pipe type.

The new and improved sprinkler head of the invention is economical to manufacture and may be readily coupled to the supply piping of the sprinkler system irrespective of the particular location thereof with respect to the ceiling of the enclosure to be protected. The invention may be embodied in a construction having a fixed deflector positioned below the ceiling or in a construction having a :movable deflector which automatically, upon opening of the valve, moves to operative position with respect to the ceiling, such latter construction permitting concealment of the unit including the deflector within a recess'in the ceiling.

A feature of the invention is the provision of means coupling the fusible element and valve which are automatically ejected from the unit when an extinguishing fluid, such as water, is to be discharged and which, therefore, present no obstruction to the flow of fluid to the deflector, the coupling means permitting use of a minimum diameter for the conduit element of the sprinkler thereby conserving space requirements and cost of materials.

A further feature of the invention is the construction which permits, by means of a simple adapter, ready coupling of the head to the supply piping irrespective of the location of such piping with relation to the ceiling.

In the improved sprinkler head removable means for coupling the deflector and valve comprise a plurality of discrete members, preferably but not necessarily, spherical, which are retained within a conduit element of the head by a fusible link or the like and transmit therefrom sufiicient pressure to the valve element to retain it on its seat,

the valve element itself comprising one of the discrete elements. Upon release by the fusible link, the discrete elements including the valve member drop from the conduit, strike the deflector or other parts of the head and are thereby thrown clear of the system.

For a better understanding of the invention and of various embodiments thereof, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. l is a side view partly in section of a fixed deflector type sprinkler head embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating adapter mean-s for coupling the sprinkler head to a remotely located supply pipe;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view representing another embodiment of the invention wherein the deflector is retractable to a position above the level of the ceiling of an enclosure; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on a reduced scale of the head of Fig. 3 showing the valve in open position.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a supply pipe 2 of a sprinkler system, either of the dry pipe or wet pipe type, having a T fitting 4 for connection to a sprinkler head. The sprinkler head includes an O-shaped frame 6 of conventional form provided with a hollow neck 8 having external threads thereon mating with internal threads in the fitting 4. Y

Extending down into the neck 8 is a tubular member or sleeve 10 having an enlarged upper end section 12 disposed above the neck 8 and seating thereon, the base of the section 12 being soldered or brazed to the upper end of the neck 8 as indicated at 14. The inner wall of the extreme upper end of the section 12 is shaped to reduce the bore at the fluid inlet to the member 10 and to thereby provide a valve seat 16. Within the member 10 are a plurality of spherical members 18 the upper one of which bears against the valve seat 16 and provides the inlet closure of the sprinkler head.

The lower one of the spherical members or balls 18 rests upon a centering plug 18a which is slidable vertically in the bore of the lower part of the neck 8 and is provided with external longitudinal grooves 20 to permit leakage of water from the interior of member 10. Centrally disposed in the lower surface of the plug 18a is a recess for reception of the tip of the shorter arm of lever 22a. Lever 22a is fulcrumed on a similarlever 22b, the tip of the shorter arm of which is supported in a recess in the upper end of a stud 24 threaded through the base of the ring 6. A composite fusible link 26 of conventional construction couples the ends of the longer arms of the levers 22a and 22b. A deflector 28 of conventional construction is axially mounted on the lower end of the threaded stud 24. Adjustment of the pressure of the upper ball member 18 against its seat may thus be eflected by rotation of the deflector 28 to raise or lower the stud 24 and the parts bearing thereon. Preferably to insure good contact between member 10 and the inner wall of the bore of neck 8, an annular recess 30 is formed in the wall of the bore of the neck near the lower end thereof and the wall of member 10 is sprung outwardly at a corresponding location as indicated at 30a for entry into the recess 30, a longitudinal slot 32 being provided in member 10 to permit insertion of the member into the neck 8.

With the above described construction when the temperature is such as to cause separation of the parts of link 26 by fusion, the parts of the link and the arms 22a and 22b fall away from the head permitting the plug 18a and ball members 18 to fall clear of the tubular member 10. These parts, upon striking the stud 24, deflector 28 or nearby parts fall away from the head and leave an unobstructed passage for the flow of extinguishing fluid from the pipe 2 through the member 10. The ball members 18 thus serve as a removable valve and valve stem for the sprinkler head and the provision thereof makes it unnecessary either to provide equipment for moving the valve stem out of the path of the flow of fluid or to enlarge the fiuid outlet conduit.

When the supply pipe is relatively remotely located an adapter may be employed with the head construction of Fig. 1. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 2 wherein the neck 8 of the sprinkler head instead of being threaded directly into the fitting 4 of the supply pipe is threaded to an intermediate section of piping 34 which may be of any length desired and which at its upper end threads into the fitting 4. The tubular member 10, the upper end of which forms the valve seat, is mounted in the upper end of the connecting conduit 34 so that the valve is located as in the construction of Fig. l flush with the supply pipe 2. A simple tubular element 36 which if desired could have a spring fit with the neck 8 as in the case of the element 19, fits within the neck 8 of the head. Within the elements 36 and 1t) and the interconnecting piping 34 are a plurality of ball members 18 as in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, it being only necessary to supply a suflicient number of ball members to fill up the intervening space between the centering plug 18a and the valve seat. The head proper is shown in Fig. 2 as identical with the head of Fig. 1 and the operation thereof when the valve is to be opened is the same as that already described with reference to Fig. 1. Obviously the connecting piping 34 can be made of any desired length so that the valve closure will be maintained at the level of the supply pipe 2.

The same type of automatically removed valve and valve stem comprising the discrete elements 18 is shown in a movable deflector type sprinkler head in Figs. 3 and 4. In this construction, which is adapted to be mounted Within a ceiling aperture, the head comprises a generally bell-shaped structure 38 the lower end of which is threadedly mounted in a cylindrical member 40 having an annular inwardly directed flange 42 at its lower extremity. Member 40 may be threadedly mounted in a ring 44 fitting within a ceiling aperture. A tubular element 46 is mounted intermediate its ends in the upper end of the framework 38 and carries at its lower end a horizontally projecting ring 48. The upper end of the member 46 is provided with external screw threads for coupling to the supply pipe (not shown in Fig. 3) and the inner walls of the member 46 taper inwardly at the upper end to provide a valve seat. A plurality of balls 18 and the centering plug 1811 are positioned within the member 46 and are held therein by means of a conical projection 50 of a deflector 52, the deflector being in turn supported by a spring 54 the ends of which are forced against the shoulder 42 by a fusible link 56. A ring 58 encompass the tubular element 46 adjacent the upper end of the framework 38 and this ring is coupled to the deflector 52 by a plurality of rods 60.

In operation of the above described head of Fig. 3, when the solder holding the parts of the link 56 together fuses, the arms of the spring 54 move toward each other clearing shoulder 42 and dropping from the head. The removal of the spring 54 causes the deflector 52 to fall until the ring 58 meets the ring 48. The balls 18 and plug 18a thereupon drop from the member 46, strike the conical projection 50 and fall away from the head leaving the fluid passage free throughout its length as in the embodiments of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Under these conditions, as shown in Fig. 4, the deflector supported from thc'ring 48 by the ring 58, is positioned below the ceiling level in the desired operative position.

The invention has now been described with respect to various embodiments thereof. Obviously various changes in the exact constructions illustrated could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the accompanying claims. For example, in the adapter of Fig. 2 instead of the separate elements It and 36 a single tubular member of the desired length could be provided in which case of course, the bore of the connecting pipe 34 would be large enough to accommodate the tubular element. pipe 34 instead of being threaded at its ends to the fitting 4 and neck 8 could be otherwise coupled thereto. Although the valve seat in each of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 has been shown as formed in the enlarged section 12 of the member 10 obviously the upper end of the member 10 need not be enlarged as a valve seat could be formed by simply spinning over the upper end of the tubular member. Other variations in the illustrated constructions, such as substitution of horizontally projecting pins for the deflector supporting ring 4% of the embodiment of Fig. 3 will occur to those skilled in the art.

In each embodiment of the invention when the valves open unrestricted flow of extinguishing fluid is permitted and in each embodiment no mechanical tripping devices, other than the fusible link, is necessitated. By providing a plurality of discrete elements such as the balls 18 ready accommodation of the sprinkler head to any sprinkler system is made possible. Although the particular head of Fig. 3 is shown as adapted to be threaded directly to Alternatively or additionally the the water pipe, obviously a ad p e s h s th ho n in Fig. 2 could be provided. Although the separate elements forming the valve stem and valve of the sprinkler head of the invention have been illustrated as balls, obviously other shapes are feasible, for example, oval shaped elements or irregular shaped elements. The spherical shape is however preferred, particularly for that one of the members which serves as a valve.

The following is claimed:

1. A pendent sprinkler head for a fire extinguishing system having a supply pipe comprising in combination a tubular member adapted at its upper end to be connected with the supply pipe and having a discharge outlet at its lower end, means at the upper end of said tubular member defining a valve seat, a plurality of discrete elements disposed one above the other within said member, the uppermost element being shaped to engage said seat and serve as an inlet valve, releasable means engaging the lowermost of said elements for maintaining said elements within said tubular member and for transmitting pressure to said uppermost element to retain the same against said seat, and fusible means coupled to said releasable means for releasing the same when the temperature exceeds a predetermined value, all of said discrete elements falling freely through and out of said member upon release of said releasable means to provide an unobstructed path for flow of fluid from the inlet to the outlet of said tubular member.

2. The sprinkler head according to claim 1 including a deflector positioned below said discharge outlet for breaking up the stream of fluid issuing from the outlet of said tubular member when said discrete elements have fallen out therefrom, said deflector serving also when hit by falling discrete elements to cause such elements to be thrown clean of the head.

3. The sprinkler head according to claim 2 wherein said deflector is mounted for limited vertical movement with respect to said tubular member and is held in its uppermost position by said releasable means and moves to its lowermost position upon release of said releasable means.

4. The sprinkler head according to claim 1 wherein the lowermost one of said discrete elements is generally cylindrical and is provided with leakage passages on its outer surface and the remainder of said discrete elements are spherical.

5. Fluid discharge means for a sprinkler system having a supply pipe, comprising in combination: a structure having a vertical passage therethrough, means for connecting said structure to the supply pipe with the upper end of the passage in communication with the interior of the supply pipe, closure means for said upper end of the passage, a plurality of generally spherical members of substantially equal diameter disposed one above the other within said passage, said closure means comprising one of said members and means including a fusible link for normally maintaining said spherical members in said passage and for transmitting pressure therethrough to the closure means to prevent discharge from the supply pipe until fusion of said link, the maximum diameter of each of said generally spherical members being less than the minimum cross-sectional dimension of said passage below said closure means whereby, upon fusion of said link, the spherical members fall free of the structure.

6. Fluid discharge means according to claim 5 wherein said structure includes a deflector mounted for limited vertical movement with respect to the lower end of said passage, said means which include a fusible link holding said deflector in uppermost position and transmitting pressure therethrough and through said spherical members to said closure means, said deflector moving to its lowermost position upon fusion of said link.

7. Fluid discharge means according to claim 5 wherein said structure comprises a unitary body having an externally threaded neck portion adapted to be threaded to the supply pipe, said passage extending through said neck and said spherical members being disposed within substantially the entire'length of said passage.

8. Fluid discharge means for a fire extinguishing system having a supply pipe comprising in combination a structure having a vertical passage therethrough, means for connecting said structure to the supply pipe with the upper end of the passage in communication with the interior of the supply pipe, closure means in said passage for the upper end thereof, a plurality of discrete elements disposed one above the other within said passage, the uppermost element comprising said closure means, and means engaging the lowermost element and including a fusible link for normally maintaining said elements in said passage and for transmitting pressure therethrough to the closure means to prevent fluid flow from said supply pipe until fusion of said link, said elements falling from said structure upon fusion of said link.

9. A pendent sprinkler head for fire extinguishing systems having a supply pipe comprising a structure connected to the supply pipe and having an inlet port at the level of the supply pipe and an outlet port at a lower level, valve means for said inlet port, pressure transmitting means releasably retained within said structure and operative to hold said valve means in inlet port closing position, and means controlled by a fusible link for retaining said pressure transmitting means in said structure, said pressure transmitting means and said valve means comprising spherical members adapted to fall freely from said structure upon fusion of said link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,337 Holmes Apr. 11, 1893 1,026,687 Long May 21, 1912 1,231,439 Simonds et al June 26, 1917 2,180,258 Rowley Nov. 14, 1939 

